Nursing success stories!

The boys were born by C-section at 36 weeks 5 days, After 1 night in the nursery they were with me. I had my EZY-2-nurse pillow with me at the hospital and we used it straight away. They took a bit of work to get latched properly and came off alot and kept falling asleep but we persevered. The hospital never suggested pumping and dispite feeding for almost 8 months exclusively I never pumped (no one ever told me to and I never found TS until my boys were 2 and 1/2).
I always tandem nursed with my pillow, they were never great feeders we always had latch issues. One time I counted how many times I had to reattach them and stopped at 100. Many times I was in tears feeding them with the frustration of it. I kept a chart and fed on alternate breats each feed after a few weeks I realised whoever fed on the right breast would not settle after that feed, I rang every breastfeeding help line there was, I had the clinic nurse come to watch me feed and I went to Karitane, no one could help me. The clinic nurse insisted I had enough milk to feed the entire cities babies. She felt the right breast had a faster letdown and being small they just couldn't cope which made me think ther one on the right must be getting wind. I tried laying down and using a nipple shield and putting cold flannels on the breast, nothing helped. I never solved the problem eventually it went away. Now almost 4 years later I am convinced that in fact my right breast produced far less milk and the baby fed on the right was unsettled from hunger.
The boys also took forever to feed, at least 1 hr for the first 3 months, they would never come off. The first 2 weeks they lost weight so the clinic nurse insisted I feed them until they came off (never) or at least 1 hr every 3 hours during the day, I sent all my time either tring to wake them to feed or get them back to sleep only to wake them again to feed. It settled down after about 3-4 weeks we moved to 4 hr feeds. I got mastitis for the first time at 3 weeks, not to bad and managed to clear it up with out antibiotics and just massaging in the shower. This was the start of a very harrowing time in my life . I got mastitis 9 times in all, each time was worse, the last time at 7 1/2 months lasted 6 weeks and I could take it no longer. I was having ultrasound therapy, massaging constantly till my hands went numb, I had 3 courses oif antibiotics to clear it up. The biggest drama for me with mastitis was not the physical but the mental anguish it caused. The first time I noticed this they were 4 months old, we were camping in a remote campsite with no facilities (no toilets or showers) I got mastitis quite badly and of course could not do my usual massage in the hot shower trick, had to settle for filling a bottle with hot water and sleeping with it like a hot water bottle (parden the pun) this was when I first noticed my symptoms of depression that were associated with the mastitis, whenever I had it I would become an emotional basket case, crying and screaming at my husband, unable to think clearly or make rational disicions. Each time I got mastitis it was the same, by the end my husband would know I had it before I did because of my behaviour. In the end I was diagnosed with PND but I am convinced it was the mastitis, when I finally cleared it up and gave up the breast feeding I was essentially cured of my acute PND, I still had issues as I continue to have to this day (thats another story).
I guess this all sounds pretty negative, it was a very dark time in my life, my husband and family were all at me to quit breastfeeding which only made me more determined to keep at it. Throughout my pregnency I was determined to breastfeed. I suffer from many allergies as does my husband for this reason I felt it very important to avoid formula, you could say I was obsessed about breast feeding.
I have to admit my determination was all about being the best mum I actually never really enjoyed breats feeding, there were a few moments when I felt it was a special thing like when they made eye contact and smiled at each other when feeding, and I did feel very close to them when feeding, but mostly it was so frought with drama that it was more stressful than anything.

Would I do it all over again ABSOLUTELY, I am extremely proud of my effort to breast feed for so long. I would hope next time with all my experience it would go a little smoother and I would definately not stress so much, but I would do it all again in a second. When I look at my strapping healthy boys I know my efforts were not wasted (sorry you can't see them I don't know were my avatar has gone, I will have to look in to that one day)

 

LeslieT

First I would like to say Thank You!! to everyone for all your kind words. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one balling my eyes out while looking at my precious babies. I will say that I am feeling better. My MIL took over one feeding in the night and I actually got 5 whole hours of sleep. It was wonderful!!! Since then the girls have been super at night even sleeping as much as 4 hours at a time.

The next thing I wanted to share was my story about breastfeeding. I have always wanted to breastfeed for several reasons. The health benefits for the babies and me, the convenience, and it's way cheaper than formula. So I took a BF class at my hospital and was told that it really shouldn't hurt as long as they latch on correctly. Well, after they were born I started breastfeeding them and it went pretty good. They seemed to latch on right away, and from what I could tell it was "correct." Well despite what the lactation consultants said my nipples got sore. Not too bad, but it hurt. I thought that maybe they weren't latching correctly or something was wrong. But my MIL who breast fed said hers were sore for a bit too, after all when have you had someone sucking on your nipples for 20 mins. every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (good point, I thought) Well, I hung in there and used lanolin, air dried them and about a week later they didn't hurt anymore. I wanted to share this story with anyone who is on the wire about BF or formula. It is worth it . . . . but it may be sore for a while, but if you just stick with it for a day or so longer, it does get better. It is possible to exclusively BF twins, and don't worry you will supply enough milk for both. I even have four bottled feedings stored in the fridge for when I really need a break, or when I want to leave the house and run an errand all by myself. (which is really fun, by the way )

 

Here is my ff/bf tale, and it explains why I love bfing.

With DS1 I had a very very difficult delivery. I lost a lot of blood and almost needed a tranfusion. I didn't even get to see him until 12 hours after he was born because they drugged the holy-moley out of me and it took that long for me to sleep it off. So when they brought him to me he had already had several bottles. Since this was my first I really really wanted a LC to come help me learn how to nurse him. I got the LC from h*ll. She walked in and took one look at my nipples, declared that my right nipple was defective(it wasn't), squeezed it as hard as she could in a white knuckle grip (I don't know why!!) and said, "You'll never be able to nurse, besides he's already got nipple confusion, you might as well ff, you don't want him to starve." Well, I was crushed, but I decided she was coo-coo, so when they discharged me I tryed bfing at home by myself. It didn't work out very well, I was never able to get Dave to stop licking me and actually latch on. I think in retrospect if I'd even known that there was such a thing as nipple sheilds, and that I could call other (nicer) LC's to come see me, I would have done great. But I didn't, so very sadly I ff him.

Emma was my healing baby. I was always sad that I was so drugged during Dave's birth and that I never really got the chance to bf him. I was determined to have an undrugged natural delivery and bf her until she was at least 1. Well, I got my undrugged birth, it was wonderful to be awake and not groggy. I actually remember what happened when she was born. I nursed her less than 30 minutes after she was born and she latched on like a tiger and we were off to a wonderful bfing relationship! I felt great. Then I discovered something about bfing, even if you have a perfect latch your nipples still get sore because there is a person sucking on them 8-10 times a day for roughly 15 minutes per side. The first 6 weeks was a struggle for me, but after that it was smooth sailing, we ended up bfing for 8 months until my milk suddenly and mysteriously dried up one day. It really is much more convenient to bf, especially after the first 6 weeks. I could be totally lazy and lay in bed while nursing her!! There were quite a few times that Mike brought her to me, she nursed, he burped and changed her and put her to bed without me even waking up! That was so much better than holding a screaming baby while the water heated, then adding the formula to the bottle, then adding the mylicon drops to reduce the gas and spitting up (you are WIDE AWAKE by now if it's the middle of the night) then you feed the baby who is frantic by that time, he chugs down the bottle and gets so full of air that when you do burp him he spits up nasty gross formula all over your pj's. So you go to bed smelling like rotten formula and wishing that feeding time didn't take so long!

I am determined to bf these twins because I already know that it is far more convenient. Breastfed babies diapers don't smell as bad as ff babies either. If one of my little boys spits up, he spits up less than my ff DS1 and it smells less yucky. I have to say 99% of my reasons for bfing are actually pretty selfish, LOL!!! But I am glad to know that my milk is making them grow! My bf babies grow so much quicker and faster than my ff baby. I love seeing their little rolls of fat and knowing that my body is providing enough food to do that. I love seeing their hair and nails grow and knowing that they are becoming bigger and stronger because of my yummy milk. I love seeing their bright eyes and knowing that my body is giving them the best nutrition they can have. I beam with pride when they weigh them at the pedis office and they tell me how they've gained. I did that, not Similac or Enfamil!

BFing is harder at first, but in the long run, it is the best and most convenient thing you can do. Both you and your baby(ies) need to learn, but once you do, it is the most wonderful and practical way of nourishing your children. Sorry I wrote a novel, thanks for reading if you nade it this far.

I posted the above in a thread not too long ago. I'll update when the boys are 6 weeks old, and I'll let you know how it's going!! (But so far so good!)

OK, so I skipped the 6 week update! But we're now at 4 months and nursing like never before! I've had a few bumps along the way, but we show no signs of stopping now! The boys are growing big and healthy on their diet of Mommy's Milk. They have actually started showing they want to eat by trying to "get into position" until I nurse them! I also NIP every time I have to feed them while we're out. I have to say these last 4 months have been so rewarding!

 

Yay! I finally feel like I can post on this thread!

Never nursed before, these are my 1st babies. They were born at 38 weeks, 3 days & weighed 6 lb, 15 oz & 5 lb, 8 oz. From the beginning, they didn't want to latch. It was over 24 hours after they were born that they even got to eat anything. Our lactation nurse was busy, and even though I was supposed to be at the top of the list to see her, it wasn't until the 2nd day. I was told I had very flat, possibly even inverted nipples, and they gave me nipple shields to use. They seemed to work, but I didn't have hardly any milk so we had to supplement with formula. I used one of the tube systems and taped the tube to my breast, underneath the shield. There was so much equipment, just to nurse my babies! The first few weeks were a nightmare. My mom was living with us, to help out, and she breast fed 8 kids so she just didn't see what the problem was. She insisted trying to keep latching them on without the shields, and although we got a few latches it never really worked. In the meantime, though, my nipples were in excruciating pain!! I think it was the tissue underneath coming apart (from being inverted). Several times I would feel a searing pain while nursing & have to break off, only to find the nipple shield full of blood. I would nurse each baby (separately at first) and then pump after every feeding. Eventually I ditched the tube system & just gave them a bottle after each feeding. So it took 2 hours to feed them. At around 2 months, I started getting all kinds of plugged ducts and ended up with mastitis. It was horrible, but we survived. I actually got some herbs, which I didn't think would work, but they did. I still get the plugged ducts every now and then, but I know what to do now. I was taking everything I could think of to build up my supply (which was still low) and seeing the LC nurse regularly.

Then one day when he was about 3 mos old, Johnny just started nursing with no shield! For the first time, I could hear big swallows as he was eating and he seemed satisfied after nursing (usually). I was so excited, but never dreamed Zoe would be able to do it, too. She screamed so hard whenever I would even try. Then about 3 weeks later, she just did it one day, too!

I think so many of my problems had to do with the inverted nipples & stress. During all of this, we lost 3 members of our family and it really seemed to have an affect on my supply. I wish so much I had listened to my dr, when during a prenatal exam she commented that I might have flat nipples. I didn't think so, but now I realized I could have started wearing special shields while I was still pg....maybe it would have helped.

But, no looking back now! We are breast feeding CHAMPIONS!! I have had so many people tell me they can't believe I stuck with it, even women who are totally dedicated to breast feeding. But every time I thought about quitting, I would just start to cry. I couldn't give up. I had amazing support - both requested and non-requested.

For anyone struggling, here is my main advice:

1.) Drink LOTS and LOTS of water. And then drink some more.

2.) Get all the support you can. If your hospital has a new mom's group, go! See the LC; they're wonderful.

3.) Hang in there. Even if your baby is just getting "practice" nursing and most of their intake is from bottles, it's time spent together & that time is so precious.

 

My twins were born at 37w5d (they weighed 6lb12oz and 5lb12oz) in a very difficult labor (they were born vaginally 7 hrs apart ON DIFFERENT DAYS and I had to push for over 2hrs for each baby). Ds received formula from a bottle (without me being asked) because I was still in labor and recovery when his bloodsugar supposedly dropped (come to find out from my ped the next day they didn't need to give it to him). I was so swollen EVERYWHERE (from head to toe) and had to catherized and my eyes were swollen shut- so nursing was difficult to say the least. But I am one DETERMINED momma, LOL. I made it VERY clear to ALL staff that my babies were not to recieve any bottles or paci's!!!! I received flak for this from all nurses and even the LC. They said I was making them work too hard by finger feeding them the formula I had to give until I had the strength to nurse them effectivly (I did put them to breast every 2 hrs). My milk did not come in until 4-5 days later, but I was pumping and putting them to breast the whole time. I cried the entire time I was in the hospital because they tried so hard to make me feel like I was horrible mother for not giving them bottles and just formula until my milk came in. Thank goodness I had researched bfing twins thoroughly before hand and knew it would be hard or I am sure I would have given up while there.
Dd had to be readmitted for jaundice and it was then I saw a new LC who did the weigh before and after feeds and we discovered they were only taking in 4-5 cc's in 15 mins (they were down to 5lb7oz and 5lb15oz). It was then we tried the nipple shields and rented a baby weigh scale so I could make sure they were getting enough, and if not, finger feed them ebm I was pumping.
So for the first 4 weeks I was bfing for about 45mins each baby, then finger feeding each (about 15 mins per baby) and then pumping. I would have about 30 mins till the next time they had to be fed. I wanted to quit SOOOOO many times during that time. But like I said before I am one determined momma. I then stopped pumping/finger feeding at 4 weeks and they were getting enough from just bfing.
I just got ds off the nipple shield and he feeds in 5-10 mins now !!!!!!! Dd on the other hand refuses to nurse without it and still takes about 20-30mins to nurse. I am soooooooo glad I stuck with it, I truly LOVE bfing them (usually tandem).
There is nothing better than the little smile on thier face when I pull out the nursing pillow and their little hands rubbing my arm as I nurse them

Kristi
Molly and Zach almost 5 months

 

My girls were born at 37weeks 5days. I was hoping that we wouldn't have any latching/nursing problems since my older daughter & I spent her 1st 6 weeks going to lactation consult & occupational therapy appts. Unfortunately the twins & I did have a little bit of a battle. I knew from my past experience & reading everyone's stories on here that it was very possible to nurse a baby/babies even after trouble in the beginning. It is hard to be optimistic though when you're in the trenches.

We tried breastfeeding right away & the girls would sometimes latch well, sometimes not. Most of the time they would get very tired & frustrated at the breast. They lost almost 10% of their birthweight & I was getting very sore from their inability to latch well. So I called in the troops! I got a nursing plan together with our pediatrician & a great lactation consultant at the hospital. I exclusively bottlefed with ebm & a little bit of formula as needed. I knew it was important to increase/protect my supply so I pumped every 2-3 hours- I felt like I was married to the pump . After a couple of days I would put them to the breast 2x a day. They started getting stronger & had better latches. I decided to do a nursing marathon when they were 2 1/2 weeks old & REALLY tried not to use any bottles or formula. I rented a scale so I could tell how much they were actually getting & we nursed, nursed, nursed all weekend....and they got the hang of it... and they weren't frustrated or hungry afterwards.

All was great for about a week- then when they were 3 1/2 weeks I got thrush . I was soo sad & frustrated since it was so excruciatingly painful. It took 4 weeks to finally clear up after: 3 weeks of diflucan pills, nystatin cream, gentian violet, yogurt, acidophilus capsules & everything else I could use to help my body get back to normal.

So here we are at 10 weeks exclusively breastfeeding, they've become great nursers & are growing very well. We're still at the beginning of the breastfeeding journey, but the hardest part is behind us. In the beginning I had thoughts of formula feeding, but I knew that if we could get past the hurdles it would become so much easier. It is possible to nurse twins even after a rocky start!

I wanted to update our story. The girls are now 6 1/2 months old and still exclusively bf. I've started to introduce solids, but so far they just want mama's milk They're growing nicely & are deliciously chunky.

 

My boys were born at 36 weeks by c-section. They were 5lbs 6oz and 5lbs 15oz. No NICU time. I planned on exclusively breastfeeding them and had done a lot of research prior to their birth. I met with the lactation consultant at the hospital when I was pregnant (I highly recommend all new moms do this!) so I felt as prepared as I ever was going to be. Immediately after the boys were born, cleaned up and we were settled into our room, I started breastfeeding them. They latched on like champs! All the nurses and the pedis were amazed at how strong their sucks were for preemies. We started tandem nursing in the hospital, and I couldn't believe how easy BF was! We left the hospital and were tandem feeding around the clock every 2.5 hours. They did receive an ounce of formula here and there during the first month or two. With the exception of extremely sore nipples for the first few weeks, everything went very smoothly during the first month.

Then suddenly things became VERY difficult. They both started pulling off the breast and screaming during nursing sessions. One would unlatch, then the other, then it became a ridiculous juggling act to get them back on. Out of nowhere breastfeeding became a nightmare. I started dreading every feeding and crying all the time because I was afraid we would have to quit and go to formula. They seemed to do better with a bottle. Turns out they had "silent" reflux. We put them on Pepcid. I stopped tandem feeding and switched to feeding them individually. We worked on different positions for breastfeeding. At night, I would pump and my DH would bottle feed them. Around month 3, things began to improve.

From then on in, BF became much easier. Enjoyable even! I BF them exclusively throughout their first year. At 5 months, we were able to take them off the Pepcid. At 5.5 months, they began sleeping through the night. We introduced solids at 6 months. At 8 months, I went back to work full time. I pumped at work for 4 months. I did experience a bit of a supply dip at 10 months and took measures to increase supply (mainly extra pumping). When they turned a year old, I dropped the pumping and introduced cow's milk. We went down to breastfeeding twice a day - first thing in the morning and before bed. The boys are currently 16 months old and we are still breastfeeding!

I'm not sure how much longer we will BF, but I can tell you I NEVER throught we'd make it this far. When I look back at the struggles we went through, I'm amazed that we persevered! I'd like to tell new moms out there who are thinking of breastfeeding that it is SO worth it. You may have some struggles but just about anything can be overcome. And when you do get through it, you will be so glad that you stuck with it.

Michelle

 

Silly me. When I wrote this I thought I was answering a new post, then I relised I was on the third page! So many great stories, hurray for us!

clapping:Congratulations! With my third son I had the on again off again thrush battle for 2 years! Finally my husband and other children had to all get treated at the same time as the baby and me, and then the thrush stopped coming back. I also had different problems over the years with my different boys the biggest being the tong tie, 4 of them needed clipped.

I completely agree that a determined mama can over come every nursing challenge if she has the right information and support. For me, my La Leche league leaders were my life savers!

Just this month my twin toddler Keegan had surgery and the nurses and doctors said that the fact that I was keeping his hart rate calm and his oxygen level up (he was having trouble)by nursing him was the reason he got to leave critical care and be in his own room so soon, they even let me co sleep in the hospital bed so he could nurse all night. It was really clear that all his monitors would go off and beep like crazy every time I stopped nursing him for a minute!

I’m very happy for you! The hardest part is over, but keep asking for help any time you need it! For me nursing really starts paying back at age two when my toddler is calm, happy and soothed while my friends children are cranky and having over tired tantrums. Maybe I’m lazy but nursing a 2 year old is soo much easier then other ways of mothering, I learned that when my milk dried up during my twin pregnancy and my current 2 year old had to suddenly wean. I just don’t know how other moms do it without nursing, I felt so helpless.

(Please note… I relies every mom dose not practice extended breastfeeding and I’m seen as a bit of an odd ball ) Sorry for TMI

Once again congrats!

 

Nursed M&T for 7 + months, pumped for two more. Supplimented one feeding per day so DH could feed and I could sleep 4 uninterrupted hours . Was told feeding on demand was "impossible" by pedi, but did it anyway until we got on a schedule.
Basically did the same with A. Nursed for 7 + months and pumped for another 2 or 3.
I'm proud to have done what we could because nobody at all in my or Dh's family had ever nursed any of their kids (DH's 5 sister, either of our moms or my grandmothers) Not that they did it wrong, but they all thought it couldn't be done and was not sure how to be supportive of it. It was a big deal to me.

 

I can hardly believe it's been over a year since the girls were born! And I really can't believe we made it this far nursing...

The girls were born on a very rainy February night at 29.4 weeks. They were almost 10 weeks early and we'll never know what caused PTL. I was at 3cm when I got to the hospital and not even Magnesium sulfate stopped the labor. A few hours later the girls were born via c-section (Meg was breech).

Since they were so early, they were rushed to the NICU. I asked for a pump and the lactation consultant brought one to my room that morning. I started pumping and within a few days was getting a few ounces and bringing it to the NICU to freeze for the girls. Since they were on IVs for the first couple of weeks, I had more than enough milk stored so that they didn't ever need formula. I started nursing the girls at 33 weeks (almost 4 weeks after they were born) and both of them took to it immediately. When I brought them home after 7 weeks in the NICU they were nursing and doing great!

We were doing really well exclusively nursing until the girls were 3 months old. Teagan had just finished nursing and was fussy. She was just cranky and was breathing a little funny. We brought her to the ER and she was rushed back to the NICU and diagnosed with meningitis. More specifically, late onset Group B Strep meningitis. I stayed with her in the hospital (in the NICU's rooming-in room) for the first few touch and go days. I pumped every 3 hours and my husband brought it home for Meg, who was not happy to have a bottle and not her Mommy. Thankfully, we caught Teagan's meningitis before it did any permanent damage (our Neonatologist said if we had waited even another half hour that she would have had brain damage and another hour they would not have been able to save her.) After another 3 weeks of hospitalization, where my husband and I split time between the Ped's unit (where Teagan was after she stablized and didn't need the ICU anymore) and home with our 19 month old son and Meghan. I kept pumping and nursing. I had many bouts of Mastitis during this time, due to the stress and also due to the fact that my body was producing enough for 2 babies, but the pump didn't do a good enough job to drain the breast.

Once Teagan got home, the breastfeeding went very well (except for recurrent clogged ducts and mastitis)! The girls both were great eaters and would get their fill in 10 minutes. I tandem nursed to save time and it worked great for us. I just took it day by day. My original goal was 6 months. At 6 months I decided it was going so well that I didn't want to wean. We kept going. It seemed like all of a sudden we were celebrating the girls' 1 year birthday and they started self weaning. It was simple and painless.

I nursed them for the last time a few days ago. I thought I would be sad, but I'm happy to have my body back. I feel like I gave them a great start and did more than anyone thought I would be able to. So many people told me that I couldn't nurse twins - especially preemie twins. But I did and the girls thrived. In fact, the NICU nurses said that was one reason the girls did so well and went home from the hospital well in advance of their due date. Many preemies have trouble with their digestive systems, but our girls had no setbacks at all.

I'm so proud of my little girls! Twins are the best!

 

I knew that I was going to breastfeed the twins from the start. DH said, "I want you to bf for a year!" I don't think he thought I'd be able to do it. (He had been married before and his first wife only bf for 3 weeks, then complained it was too hard and gave up)
The first 3 months were really hard. Mikayla was born weighing 4 and 1/2 pounds and was too weak to suck. I ended up giving her ebm in a syringe for a while...finger feeding. Michael seemed to catch on right away and was a barracuda, sucking the life out of me, and very demanding.

After the first 3 months it got easier. I didn't doubt anymore that I would make it to a year. Then a new challenge arose....I was going back to work full time. My work was 45 minutes away! I am a teacher, and the only real chance I got to pump was during my 1/2 hour lunch period. I ended up pumping in the car while I was driving to get enough ebm for the twins.

I also didn't have any one around to support me. My whole family lives in the midwest, and I live in Maryland. My mom formula fed me, and in the back of her mind has that 60's mentality, that bf babies don't get enough and that it is "weird" to bf babies, especially to a year or beyond. I came to twinstuff breastfeeding forum to get my only advice and support.

Around 9 months, Mikayla started going on breastfeeding strikes. She was busy, distracted and didn't want to bf at all. I had the summer mostly free and was bfing Michael like crazy. Then August came around again, and I had to go back to school full time. I decided I wasn't going to pump, I was tired and didn't have enough time during the day.

So I ended up letting the nanny give them 1 bottle of formula a day while I was at work. Mikayla started nursing again, but some days were harder than others to get her interested. Finally at 12 months...1 year she quit all together. Michael still wanted the boobie!

Well, I had made it to a year with Mikayla, and I was glad...but sad too. Now that I had made it to a year, I didn't really want to give it up.

Michael was becoming more possesive than ever. He began to whine all of the time to nurse. He started refusing to go to anyone...even to DH! DH told me it was time to stop.

Then the twins became VERY sick over Christmas. We spent 3 days over Christmas in the hospital in St. Louis. During this time Michael was nursing more than ever. I ended up bfing him for another 3 months. At 15 months DH said, "STOP." So I did. What was really sad was Mikayla had finished her looooonnnnngggggg nursing strike and was starting to bf again during the last 2 weeks I was bfing Michael.

So Michael bf for 15 months, and Mikayla technically 12. It was the best experience of my life and I feel that I gave my babies the best. I became an inspiration to many of the young teachers at my elementary school that were pregnant or just had babies. They always said, "If Bridget could bf twins, we can bf a singleton!" Many of the young moms now turn to me for bfing advice. I'm so glad I could help and encourage them to keep going.

Bridget

 

I think I would consider myself a success!

My boys were born at 34w2d at 5 lbs 12 oz and 4 lbs 11oz. Ryker (the 5lber) latched on but would fall asleep. Ronin (the 4 lber) would NOT latch AT ALL. They started to lose weight, so we were instructed to nurse them at the most 20 minutes and to supplement with formula. They still lost weight. Along with that, I had a VERY unsupportive pediatrician. She told me that I would never be able to nurse them exclusively, and that most twin moms in her practice do not exclusively BF them.

Finally, they were put on a 3 hour schedule (meaning, the MOST they could go without eating was 3 hours, if they were hungry before that, of course I would feed them). So, I pumped, and put fortifier in the EBM. I also bf'ed them once a day for 20 minutes. I started to get cracked and bleeding nipples. Finally, after 8 days,they gained and we were able to bring them home.

I pumped and gave them bottles for several weeks, along with BF'ing. Ryker still BF'ed well but not Ronin. So, I called the LC and she gave me some ideas, and I also talked to other moms who successfully bf'ed preemies. Few things that helped:

-Practiced every day
-Lots of skin to skin contact. Even Daddy would do skin to skin contact. At one point, he started to look for the nipple on daddy
-He'd get frustrated because my milk wouldn't come right away. So, I would nurse Ryker and then the other breast would let down, then I tried to entice him onto the breast
-If he was too hungry, I'd give him a bottle and then tried him at the breast

One day, around 6-7 weeks, he just got it and haven't looked back! They both continue to nurse well, and around 3 months, things just got SO easy. They are growing well-They gained 3 lbs in 2 months.

I am glad I stuck it out despite all the problems we had. There were many times that I wanted to quit but didn't.

 

I just wanted to share my story, maybe this will encourage other people that breastfeeding can work even if it's not under the best circumstances.

We started supplementing at about 2 months due to continued weight loss. At 2 months neither of my babies had gotten back to their birthweight. In fact, DD who was 6lbs2oz when born was only at 5lbs7oz. Our pedi recommended giving them an ounce of formula after each nursing session, but I wanted a better idea of what they were taking in so I started pumping and giving them EBM in bottles. We fortified the bm with high calorie formula to help them gain weight. They did gain, but are still peanuts. At 4 months they were 8lbs12oz and 9lbs12oz - so formula is not always the "easy fix" it's made out to be.

I'll admit, I got lazy about pumping. It got to a point where I hated even seeing my pump, let alone actually making myself pump. I really feel that my mindset contributed to my supply issues. I kept telling myself I didn't have enough, and pretty soon I didn't. Once I returned to work (when the babies were 12 weeks) my supply took a nose dive. I tried Reglan and although it helped I hated the side effects and once I stopped taking it my supply dropped again.

I saw an LC who recommended using an SNS to get my DD back to the breast. DS has always gone back and forth easily, but DD got lazy and would hold out for a bottle. The SNS was ideal for me, I could know she was getting enough, still get the stimulation needed to up production and get her back to the breast.

Unfortunately, I work a ton of hours so there isn't much opportunity during the week to nurse. I was fed up with pumping and not feeling like I was "breastfeeding", I kept waiting for it to get easier. I broke down one night and was just bawling and told DH I was ready to thow in the towel. Luckily he knows me well enough to know that I would not have been happy about giving up without giving all I had first, and convinced me to give it one last attempt.

About 3 weeks ago I started pumping religously, every 3 hours at work and every 2 hours at home (including weekends). I do let myself sleep at night, but still get up once to pump during the night. I pump 7-9 times a day, depending on my work schedule. For the last week I've been getting about 40 ounces a day. Granted it's still not enough to give the babies exclusively breastmilk, but considering when I decided to commit to making this work I was only getting 10 ounces a day - I think it's awesome.

I've almost gotten to the point where I feel confident enough to try a nursing marathon and get my babies back to the breast, even if it's just for weekends. I don't want to set a goal for how long I'll keep this up, it's too overwhelming for me. I'm happy to take it a day at a time, and my stubborness has kicked in. I refuse to give up now because I've got so much time and effort invested.

It has taken me 5 months to actually enjoying nursing. My pump was broken over this last weekend and while DH was running around finding replacement parts I had to relieve some pressure. I sat down and nursed DS and it finally "clicked", this is what I had envisioned when I planned on breastfeeding. Thanks to all the ladies here and your great advice, you've been a big help to me. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!

 

I had nursed 2 children before the twins arrived at 36 weeks due to complete inability to move. I was determined that this was going to work. It did take time figuring out if it was easier to do one at a time or both at the same time. I nursed them for 10 months. Wanted to nurse longer but fell roller skating and broke my wrist and had to have a plate and six screws put in. Want to talk about a sudden change. To any mom having twins good luck. Lactation consultants help tremendously.

 

My beautiful DDs were born at 38weeks 3 days, having to be induced to enter the world.

I had previously BF'd my DS, until 18 months of age. I became pregnant with the girls while still BFing, when DS was 15 months. He self weaned at 18 months, just a week before I was going to stop nursing him. I had been ill 2x in 4 weeks, and felt that my baby needed everything I could give him/her, not knowing I was growing a pair!

When my DDs were born, they didn't nurse very well, even in the hospital, but the LCs assured me I was doing fine, and that I was a pro. While I felt perfectly comfy BF, I knew that Baby B especially had difficulty latching.

Over the next 2 weeks, the babies struggled to gain weight, and we went to the ped every other day for weight checks. I purchased an Ameda Purely Yours and pumped with a frenzy, nursing and bottle feeding with all I had. They finally started gaining weight at a pace adequate for the pediatrician at 2 weeks of age. Compounding our troubles was the fact that the girls were quite jaundiced, which made them sleepy, very difficult to wake and feed.

At 2 weeks, when my sister was over, she suggested that the girls were tongue tied (as her son was). AT our next visit to the ped, I inquired, he checked, and sure enough, they were!

We had frenulectomies performed by an ENT at 3 weeks, and amazingly, Baby B was able to latch on for more than 2 little sucks. It had an immediate impact on latch, however, they hadn't developed much strenth and were still ineffective at moving enough milk.

I fed the girls 7x per day (nursing Baby A most of those 7x, nursing baby B at least 2x), pumped 6x per day, and each baby got a chaser bottle at each feeding.

I thought I'd never break the cycle of pumping.

Then I logged on to TS, looking for help. A mom told of her success in getting her babies off of bottles at an "older" age. I had hope.

Then, at about 9 weeks of age, Baby A refused a bottle following a particularly good nursing session. She had gotten enough milk! Over the next several weeks, I figured out how to nurse Baby A, nurse Baby B (just a couple times a day still), and pump enough for Baby B.

It took a very long 5 more weeks, and Baby B had a day where she finally had a good nursing session. Nursing was always very frustrating for her, despite my best calming efforts. It took another week for her to have another good session, and I took the plunge, not offering her a bottle. She was content for 2 hours before she wanted to eat again. She had done it!!

So, 1x per day, I nursed her only. Then after several days, we gradually added in more nursing sessions. When she was almost 4 months old, we had her down to one bottle a day. As DH and I figured out a workable nighttime routine, we then dropped the evening bottles for both girls.

So --- we overcame it - tongue tie, latch difficulties, weaning off the bottle at a late age.

And we're still going at 18 months.

 

QUOTE(mehera @ Jan 5 2006, 02:04 AM) [snapback]87337[/snapback]
(This is super long and I should edit, but I wanted to post while I have it fresh!) I was determined to breastfeed my girls. I knew it was the best thing for them. In the breastfeeding class I took ahead of time, the nurse claimed we were designed to breastfeed twins (two breasts, two babes), but I think she was really trying to encourage all the other moms (pregnant with singletons). She mentioned how important it was to get the babies immediately to the breast because if not, she said, you might not make enough milk and trying to build up a supply after a certain point is a “Herculean effort." Let me just say that the phrase “Herculean effort" described the first ten weeks of my life with my girls. I had pre-eclampsia, so I was induced at 35 weeks. I had a vaginal delivery, and the girls were miraculously fine, no NICU time, no other issues. But I didn't get to hold them right away. I kept saying I need to nurse them, but no one did anything. I realize now no one at the hospital expected me to breastfeed them. (They also really threatened me that I needed a C-section. Grr.) About five hours after they were born, a nurse finally brought me the babies and ripped open a nipple with her fingernail shoving it into the baby's mouth. I had enough sense to ask for a lactation consultant. (The nurse was giving me horrible advice, never feed for more than ten minutes; don't ever let the baby fall asleep at the breast, ugh, there's a reason breastfeeding induces sleep and soothes a baby. Embrace it!) The lactation consultant brought me a hospital grade pump. (I wish I'd known my insurance would pay for it for eight months; a breast pump was the first baby item I'd bought.) She also brought me formula, tubing for finger feeding, and information on which bottles I'd need to use. She was the lactation consultant. So I didn't question her. I was to try to breastfeed at every feed but then finger feed or give a bottle. I was not to worry. I shouldn't expect my babies to know how to nurse until a couple weeks after their due date. Well her prediction came true, the girls didn't nurse exclusively until 9.5 after they were born, a full month after their due date. And the fact that they did was truly the result of some Herculean effort. I'm still not sure whether it was a self-fulfilling prophecy or whether there were thing I could have done to get them on the boob faster. Here's how we did it: My first pediatrician was obsessed with weight and had us formula feed every two hours, a high calorie mix. I also used the little breast milk I produced. I would try to nurse, but the attempt would take nearly two hours, so my attempts quickly dwindled as I focused on pumping. I pumped ten times a day, using all types of combinations of settings (a lower suction worked best for me), and power pumping (ten minutes on, ten off, ten on, until a baby needed me again). Milk production is determined by how much milk is removed from the breast. I was not even producing enough to feed one baby, not even 10 ounces a day. I became obsessed with all things breastfeeding. I took fenugreek, 3 pills 3 times a day. That increased me to about 12 ounces. Clearly not enough. And while I was pumping, I was researching breastfeeding and learning a lot about formula. I did not want to give it to my babies anymore. I started taking Reglan to increase my milk supply (up to 14 - 16 ounces now, which I split between the babies). I would have occasional successes. Sometimes a baby would actually latch! But two minutes of nursing was a fabulous success. I called my fourth lactation consultant who informed me that giving a bottle was the wrong thing to have done, babies love to suck and will quickly come to prefer a bottle when it's easier to get nutrition there. (If I'd been able to fill each bottle with breast milk, I would not have been so obsessed about getting rid of the bottles, and I really enjoy and appreciate the emotional benefits of being able to breastfeed these girls. I am so thankful I stuck it out.) This LC had me use cups and a Supplemental Nursing System. The cups were basically unmanageable, as you can imagine. SNS took a lot of work, but I tried to do at least two feedings a day this way. When the babies wouldn't go for it or I just couldn't manage it, I cried and cried and felt so guilty. I cried every day and felt like I was failing my girls. My husband kept saying to just give them a bottle, I thought he was being unsupportive, but he really just wanted me to go easy on myself. Didn' he know I was fighting a Herculean battle? I subscribed to http://groups.google.com/group/misc.kids.breastfeeding where I've learned a lot about breastfeeding. I posted a long plea for help, but I didn't get much of a response. One poster said she knew of someone who didn't breastfeed exclusively until 11 weeks! And one woman thought she knew of someone whose baby got it at 14 weeks. This gave me so much hope! (These forums http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=27 and http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=310 also have a great deal of information about breastfeeding. They are so supportive of extended breastfeeding as well. In fact, breastfeeding is the norm on this site!) Kellymom.com is also a wealth of information. But the Breastfeeding Forum here had the people who gave me the specifics and shared their experiences so generously. I followed Aimee's directions for a nursing marathon after I'd had two nights successfully nursing Nico for 12 hours (I was still supplementing her during the day). Lena would nurse occasionally, but she preferred the bottle. But I knew she could nurse. I was also taking prescription Domperidone, and while it had only increased my pump output by two more ounces, I felt like it was “backup to the knowledge I had that my body would keep producing milk for as long as a baby tried to remove it. So at 9.5 weeks, my husband went out and got DVDs and food, and we set ourselves up on the fold-out couch in the TV room. We just had the goal of trying to get through the afternoon. Then evening came and we hadn't used a bottle and we decided to push on through the evening hours. Colic was just beginning, so I knew there'd be some fussiness. But Nico was definitely happier at the breast. Lena, however, wanted her bottle. When she cried, Chris took Nico so that I could soothe Lena and try again. It was a long evening, but we made it. I was up most of the night because nursing still took longer than bottles at that point (though that changed quickly). We did it. And we did it again the next day. And the next. And while I basically just sat in a chair until they were four months old (and spent the majority of time there) well, here, because I'm sitting where I nursed them), there was only one more attempt at formula. I went against my instinct and listened to the pediatrician and supplemented Nico with a bottle one night. She threw up the contents of that bottle across three rooms and the hallway. And that was the end of that. No more bottles, even with breast milk. And I'm thinking we're going to go with child-led weaning. I don't want to deny these girls something that gives so much comfort and nutrition. (Of course, they're only a year old, but now that I know how beneficial it is, I just may be nursing a preschooler!) I didn't like breastfeeding at first; I just knew it was best. I went through so much with infertility and in vitro; I demanded that these girls come into the world; I have to raise them with all the love and wisdom I have to give. The effort was Herculean, but it was so incredibly worth it. I do love breastfeeding now. I am a staunch supporter. And I will talk to anybody anytime about it. Please PM me for support.

Fabulous! Inspiring! :love0028:

 

QUOTE(MommyTo3andCounting @ Apr 19 2007, 03:22 PM) [snapback]227245[/snapback]
I just wanted to share my story, maybe this will encourage other people that breastfeeding can work even if it's not under the best circumstances.

We started supplementing at about 2 months due to continued weight loss. At 2 months neither of my babies had gotten back to their birthweight. In fact, DD who was 6lbs2oz when born was only at 5lbs7oz. Our pedi recommended giving them an ounce of formula after each nursing session, but I wanted a better idea of what they were taking in so I started pumping and giving them EBM in bottles. We fortified the bm with high calorie formula to help them gain weight. They did gain, but are still peanuts. At 4 months they were 8lbs12oz and 9lbs12oz - so formula is not always the "easy fix" it's made out to be.

I'll admit, I got lazy about pumping. It got to a point where I hated even seeing my pump, let alone actually making myself pump. I really feel that my mindset contributed to my supply issues. I kept telling myself I didn't have enough, and pretty soon I didn't. Once I returned to work (when the babies were 12 weeks) my supply took a nose dive. I tried Reglan and although it helped I hated the side effects and once I stopped taking it my supply dropped again.

I saw an LC who recommended using an SNS to get my DD back to the breast. DS has always gone back and forth easily, but DD got lazy and would hold out for a bottle. The SNS was ideal for me, I could know she was getting enough, still get the stimulation needed to up production and get her back to the breast.

Unfortunately, I work a ton of hours so there isn't much opportunity during the week to nurse. I was fed up with pumping and not feeling like I was "breastfeeding", I kept waiting for it to get easier. I broke down one night and was just bawling and told DH I was ready to thow in the towel. Luckily he knows me well enough to know that I would not have been happy about giving up without giving all I had first, and convinced me to give it one last attempt.

About 3 weeks ago I started pumping religously, every 3 hours at work and every 2 hours at home (including weekends). I do let myself sleep at night, but still get up once to pump during the night. I pump 7-9 times a day, depending on my work schedule. For the last week I've been getting about 40 ounces a day. Granted it's still not enough to give the babies exclusively breastmilk, but considering when I decided to commit to making this work I was only getting 10 ounces a day - I think it's awesome.

I've almost gotten to the point where I feel confident enough to try a nursing marathon and get my babies back to the breast, even if it's just for weekends. I don't want to set a goal for how long I'll keep this up, it's too overwhelming for me. I'm happy to take it a day at a time, and my stubborness has kicked in. I refuse to give up now because I've got so much time and effort invested.

It has taken me 5 months to actually enjoying nursing. My pump was broken over this last weekend and while DH was running around finding replacement parts I had to relieve some pressure. I sat down and nursed DS and it finally "clicked", this is what I had envisioned when I planned on breastfeeding. Thanks to all the ladies here and your great advice, you've been a big help to me. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!

You're Incredible!!!! :love0028: Way to go!!! :love0028:

 

We’ve officially weaned!!!

I nursed and pumped to provide breastmilk for Cole and Wyatt for 12 months 24 days!!!

I can’t believe it’s OVER – 12 months ago, I didn’t believe I’d make it to 3 months let alone to nearly 13 months. Add to that the dietary restrictions at 6 months and it’s a wonder I’m here at all.

We got through our share of hurdles:
1) Jaundice
2) Wyatt’s tongue tie – and subsequent poor latch
3) what I thought was thrush-but was not -- too bad we treated it for 6 weeks!!!! Not to mention I gave up sugar for that time. Arghhh!! (tossing out 90 ounces of milk that wasn't tainted!!!)
4) Wyatt’s inability to breastfeed and the decision to give up on breastfeeding and pump full time for him
5) diet restrictions – seafood, peanuts, soy and dairy – limited other nuts (due to hubby's family history)
6) chronic cracked nipples thanks to the pump
7) concerns over milk supply that came up throughout the whole year
dirol.gif never being able to just go to bed when we did get out at night cause I had to pump
9) pumping between 1am and 3am every day for an entire YEAR!!!
10) nipple sores (aka holes) from the space between Cole’s teeth and my nipple getting caught in between

We triumphed over all of this and my boys NEVER once had formula. Even in the hospital when I had to fight the attending pediatrician to let me pump EBM to feed Cole who was jaundiced.

At my height of milk production I was producing 70 to 80 ounces of milk a day!! That’s over 2 litres.

Needless to say I’m glad to have my “tippy tips” to myself ;-) and I’ve enjoyed a few nights of sleeping on my belly, a treat I’ve not experienced for nearly 2 years!

I had peanut butter cup ice cream today and expect to have oysters on the half shell soon (another food I haven’t eaten in nearly 2 yrs)

Cole & Wyatt are my reward. They are healthy, smart and super fun.

Hooray for breastfeeding, but a double hooray for being DONE!!

Teri

 

Well it has been little over a week since my girls have been officially weaned :mellow: I really do miss it. They just grew so nicely before my eyes, I can't believe it.

They were born at 35w 3 days and they only spent a couple of days in NICU before coming home. Since these were my first babies I was totally clueless about nursing them and the proper latching techniques. Fortunately there were some really helpful nurses in the NICU that helped me. Georgia latched on quickly and I felt very good, but Ella took a little while longer before learning how to latch on.

I have to agree that the first few months were the hardest. Extreme sleep deprivation and loss of appetite. The only thing I really could take in were liquids and soup. Because of this I lost 50 lbs in the first 5 weeks (I only gained 24 lbs during my pregnancy). Luckily this was weight that I could afford to have off :lol:

During the first 3 months, I was pumping and nursing all of the time. I was creating a storehouse of ebm for when I had to go back to work. But despite all of the hard work, the girls were meeting their growth milestones (putting on weight, growth spurts, etc.) at the same rate as full term babies.

The next time I started having concerns was between the 8-12 month period when AF showed her ugly head which coincided with a drop in my pumping production. This made me really nervous, so I started taking fenugreek to help with my supply and it helped maintain a decent supply until I weaned them off.

It has been an emotional rollercoaster, but it was well worth it. They are happy toddlers that are growing and learning all of the time. I would not change a thing. :wub:

 

Hey Girls well I did it, we are done. I can't believe it. I am so happy for us and sad at the same time. For those who are just starting I will start from the beginning.....


My girls were born at 33weeks 6 days. I had told the NICU doctors from the beginning that I would be breastfeeding and that under no circumstances were my girls to get bottles. They were fine with that until they were ready to send them home. They wanted the girls nursing atleast 6 times per day for 10 minutes each time before they would even consider letting me take them home. They wanted me to give bottles for the other couple of feedings that I couldn't be there. Keep in mind I was recovering from a c section, and had a 3 year old at home that hadn't had her mom in in two months due to bedrest. The NICU docs told me I would have to be there for 6 feedings. It was rough but with good friends, husband and family I was able to do it. The girls came home, nursing exclusively.

The first nursing at home I couldn't get Payton to latch on. I was so scared she missed the feeding. I called the NICU nurses. We did the nipple shields for a while then lost those. I was so tired in those first couple of weeks I barely remember any of it. The roughest time was around 8 weeks. Taylor started with the reflux. She cried constantly, pulled away from breast and would not eat. She would not gain weight. My dh pushed, and pushed and pushed to give formula. I refused. My MIL, Mother all pushed formula. I kept insisting formula would only upset her tummy more.

Finally we got into see a specialist and got on the right meds. I am CERTAIN that I would have given up if it wasn't for all the great ladies here on this board. I LOVE all of you! and thank you so much for my success. Once my girls hit 3 months it did get easier. However, I stopped tandem feedings at that time and went to single feeding the girls. It was much better for Taylor if I laid down and did the feedings. For the next 6 months I did all of my breast feeding laying down. I actually felt uncomfortable and weird doing it any other way. We found what worked and stuck with it.

Once things got easier it just became routine. I pumped while I was away from the girls 2 days a week and nursed exclusively. The girls had feeding trouble with solids in the beginning but finally caught on once they were about a year old. They eat normally now. We slowly dropped feedings a couple of weeks at a time.

This has been a dream of mine to breastfeed for I don't know how long. For those of you who don't know my oldest dd is adopted and I did not get to breastfeed her. When I was pregnant with the girls I couldn't wait to experience this bond that I had read and heard so much about. When I told my dh and mom while I was pregnant that I planned on nursing for a year they both laughed and said I was so disgusting. I can't believe with no support in real life I made it as far as I did.

Right now I am so happy I experienced this and so sad at the same time. I enjoy the cuddle times with the girls. They are on the go so much that I don't get much of that unless we were nursing. It seemed like when I sat down to nurse Taylor tonight that she knew. She seemed to nurse for a long time. Looking and me the whole time and just stroking my chest. Payton did the same. I am so proud of myself for making it this far. It is a huge accomplishment.

So for everyone just starting out you can do it. You can make it! Just make small goals and come here for support. These ladies offer a wealth of knowledge that surpass any book or google search you can do. Thanks for helping me acheive something I never thought was possible. And thank you for encouraging me to nurse past one year when my DH continuously called it disgusting. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Here are some pictures of our last time

Taylor

Payton

 

Born 37 weeks to the day. Boy stayed in hospital for 11 days. Girl came home after 5 days. Both had severe jaundice. Boy had feeding tube. He had trouble eating due to temp issues. I had breastfed my first baby for 8 1/2 months. My twins are almost 9 months old, and we are still going strong. Actually, they won't take a bottle. Yikes! That kind of stinks, but at least they got the hang of it. It takes a lot of time, but it sure is worth it. They are much healthier, and think of all the money I've saved!!!


QUOTE(aimee316cat @ Jan 4 2006, 06:23 AM) [snapback]73283[/snapback]
Breastfeeding can be a very difficult, trying but wonderful experience. Nursing twins, moreso. Nursing NICU babies even more! There are benefits to nursing that for some, far outweigh any of the struggles that may occur in the beginning. And for those that are successful, whether that be for their planned 6 weeks, 6 months a year or even more(!), their stories are a true testament to determination and an incredible inspiration to us all. Below are nursing success stories from mom's who've been through it all. Select a name, a super-brief synopsis is included if you think your story mirrors theirs or your situation is like it. No matter what, you will be inspired!

aimee316cat
- had nursed before, born at 35w2d, via c-section, 19 days in the NICU, majory surgery for one twin at 25 days old, back to work at 10 weeks, pumped and nursed for 12 months, mother-led weaning at 14+ months
Ellen Barr
- first babies, born at 37w4d, no NICU time, began nursing 48 hours later, used nipple shields, exclusively nursed until self-weaned at 11 months
rosebury
- had nursed before, born at 30 weeks, via emergency c-section, 7 weeks in the NICU, began nursing 6 weeks after birth, used nipple shields, going strong at 16+ months
debid
- first pregnancy, born at 39 weeks via c-section, demand fed from the start, fought off uneducated nurses.
mxmomof4
- had nursed before, born at 35w via c-section, 8 days later for daughter to start nursing, nursed separately.
AMDJ-4
- first babies, born at 37 weeks via c-section, one baby with cleft lip, EZ2 Nurse pillow user weaned at 13 months
twolittlegirls
- first babies, born 32w5 days due to PROM, 17 days in the NICU, pumped for first 2 months and supplemented with EBM, "Got it!" at the 40 week gestation mark.
CCJN
- born at 29 weeks, pumped for 8 weeks in NICU, endless supply, nursed separately, self weaned at 2 and 2.5 years old respectively!
Sharon with J & N
- born at 33 weeks, in NICU 3 weeks, tube-fed first 6 days, pumped and dumped due to antibiotics, giant nursing pillow was life saver, nursed over 7 months
mrw472
- nursed before, born at 33w2d one vaginal and one c-section, began nusring on day 3 in hospital, 4 weeks of NICU time, nurses separately, 9+ months and going strong!
mehera
- first babies, born at 35w vaginally, fought uneducated nurses AND Pediatricians!, got into a nurse/supplement "rut", nursing marathon worked wonders!
ljcrochet
- first babies, born 33w6 days, pumped in the hospital, returned the pump when babies were 3 months old, weaned at 15 months!
chanimal
- born at 32w with TTTS, waited 2 weeks to nurse!, pumped, "Got it!" at 3 months old, mother lead weaning at 14 months.
allgood2000
- nursed before, born 35w via c-section, tandemed all the time after 4 months, self-weaned at 11 months
Alisha-CO
- nursed before, babies born 8.5 weeks early via c-section, had to stop nursing one baby due to problems, continued nursing the other to 15 months
1+2mom
- nursed before, NICU babies for 41 and 46 days respectively, pumped and pumped and pumped and pumped, no more bottles at 3.5 months old!, 18 months and still going strong.
nursemom
- nursed before, born at 36w6d, 2 days in NICU for one baby, jaundice problems, sleeping 12 hour straight at 7 months, still going strong at 15+ months!
Chrissy Nelson
- born at 34w, 10 days in NICU, exclusively nursed one to 2.5 years!
cellomom
- nursed before, born at 37w4d, but mom had complications; began nursing when babies were ~12 weeks old! Weaned at 6½ months.
Cowboys
- First children, born 34w2d. 10 days in NICU. Major supply issues first three weeks. Required extra pumping and supplementation with formula/expressed breast milk. By 3 weeks, nursing exclusively. Still nursing at 19 months.
MeldieB
- born at 36w due to severe preeclampsia, began pumping 48 hrs after delivery, her Mom was inspirational support!, four rounds of thrush , has surprised the hospital, nurses and Pediatrician with her success!
KristineM+Twins
- nursed before, one to NICU, one to room in, fought to nurse DS, got into a supplementation cycle and "broke" the habit, still going strong at 8+ months!
twinletsmom
- born 33w5d, nursed before, finger fed ABM, major nursing marathon at 6 MONTHS(!) and THEN nursed to 2 years!
KimC
- born 37w5d, weaned at 13/14 months, LOVED her EZ2 nurse pillow!
JicJac
- born 37w5d, first time mom, 7#7 & 7#11, C-section. One inefficient nurser. Still nursing strong... weaned at 25½ months while pregnant with set number 2!
tulip1981
- 34 weeks, 5 weeks in the NICU, no encouragement from hospital staff, exclusively nursing at 12 weeks! Going strong!
Starr Danielle
-born 36w5d, 2nd & 3rd breastfed children, used regular pillows, Weaned at over 2½ years!!
flannelphilly
-previously had breastfed, knowledge is key, weaned at 14 months.
Silvarra
-born at 39w6d, had breastfed before, over 7lbs each, skeptical LC, issues at work.
mnj
-born at 38w1d, nursed 6 months, multi-tasker.
p31heather
-born 38w3d, first children, implemented a 3 hr schedule and tada!, mastitis, never planned to nurse longer than 6 months, posted at 1 year!
melissao
-born 34w2d, c-section. pumped every 2 hours while they were in NICU. 3 months of pumping & giving EBM then nursed exclusively. Used LC from hospital. Tandem fed & nursed until twins were 1 year.
twinsagainx4
-did not BF first set of twins due to latching issues & no desire, new dh insisted she nurse second set. Jumped in envisioning issues, but babies were agreeable. Still nursing at 3 months! Very Pro-breastfeeding mom now!
Amanda Jane
-born 36w,5d via c-section, used EZ2Nurse pillow and tandem fed, never pumped, had latching issues and mastitis 9 times! Not much support from family made for a lot of determination & success.
LeslieT
-took breastfeeding class, some sore nipples, latched well from get-go. Very successful - "You can do it!"
Her Royal Jennyness
-born 36weeks, vaginal & emergency c-section, uses EZ2Nurse pillow. Has FF (due to poor advice from LC) & breastfed before.
naomi02
-born 38w,3d, 1st children, did not want to latch, used nursing system, nipple shields gone by 3½ months! Help from LC & lots of support. Still nursing strong!
excitedk
-born 37w,5d after difficult labor, educated about nursing twins before their birth, used/s nipple shields and tandem nurses. 10 weeks and going strong.
ali k
-born 37w,5d. Great help after issues from ped. & LC. Pumped & fed EBM. Used nursing marathon to get them to nurse exclusively. Had thrush. 10 weeks now of breastfeeding exclusively & going strong!
greymom
-born 36w via c-section. Battled reflux at 1 month. Returned to work full time at 8 months and pumped for 4 months. 16 months old and still nursing!
Tiffany S
-fought thrush with all four kids & had tongue-tied issues. Breastfeeding has helped through tough times.
Emerald
-breastfed twins & singleton for 7 months & then pumped 2-3 months after that. Told by ped. that feeding on demand was impossible. Proved him wrong dispite lack of support from dh's family.
kcprochazka
-born 29w4d, fed 100% breastmilk in NICU, started nursing at 4 weeks old, dealt with Group B Strep Meningitis, mastitis & clogged ducts. Weaned at 13 months!
bridget nanette
-born 38w3d, goal of 1 year, dd fingerfed initially, ds strong nurser, dealt with nursing strikes & no support, dd weaned at 12 months, ds weaned at 15 months. Inspiration to her workplace!
txtwinmom2b
-born 34w2d, lost weight in hospital, no support from pediatrician, pumped and added fortifier (in hosp), help from LC with lots of skin to skin contact, at 3 months both were nursing strong. Still nursing...

 

some of you know we had a really hard time getting started. my boys were 5 weeks early (I know not nearly as early as some of yours), and spent 11 days in NICU, and were a week old b-4 I got to attempt BFing. came home on bottles only trying to nurse once per day. they had a hard time latching w/o a nipple shield (all very typical). well after pumping, and trying to nurse for about 3 weeks I got mastitus which really affected my supply (cut the infected side supply in half). then at about 5 weeks old they finally got it, could latch, and eat till they were satisfied. so after a week of exclusivley BFing I wanted to know how they were doing. they had both lost a few ounces, so I freaked out, and went to formula suppliments (once a day) this worked out great till they were about 4 months old. then I was sick and tired of being exhausted all the time, so I switched to nursing 1 baby every other feeding, and giving a bottle to the other. this helped me be a lot less tired all the time. so we did that for several months. then they started getting to be MUCH more active, and I was having a really hard time getting the one who should be nursing to eat. in fact some times I would give the nursing one a bottle after nursing because he wouldn't nurse very long, and just wanted to play, and I didn't want to try nursing 4-5 times per feeding. so eventually this turned into only nursing mornings and nights because it's the only time they would sit still long enough to eat w/o being hungry again a few mins later. I think that started around 8 months old. this went well for a while and I figured I'd just do that for as long as they'd do it (I was hoping for at least 15 months). but then one day they just wouldn't eat I was sooooo sad! I cried. (this was around the 1st or 2nd week of December so about 10 1/2 months old) so over the next several days I tried nursing at several different times of day, and they just wouldn't do it, and Cameron bit me! I pumped, and tried again and again, but they just didn't want to nurse. I was soooooooooo sad! I cried, and didn't know what to do. but it was apparent that they were not going to nurse, and I didn't want to pump anymore because after all that work I was so looking forward to just nursing morning and night for as long as they wanted. pumping was NOT part of that plan. so I decided I had to face the bitter truth that my babies did not care to nurse any longer. that was about a week or so ago (maybe 10 days). and it still saddens me to think about. I'm sure I should be glad that I got them to nurse as long as they did I suppose 10 1/2 months is nothing to sneeze at, but I can't help feeling that if I'd tried harder from the beginning, and not freaked out when they lost weight (heck I shouldn't have even gotten them weighed when I did) that they would still be nursing. maybe one day when they're 3 and I run into a new twin mom somewhere who is struggling w/ nursing I can look back on this and feel better about having nursed them this long, and encourage her? life will go on, they're happy and healthy, and I love them. this is not the end of the world, but I do wish it had lasted longer.

oh well. we're all done. I guess this is my story.

and to all you just starting out : it can be really hard to get NICU twins to nurse, but it's still worth it. if I had it to do again I would. I don't know if it would even go any better a 2nd time than it did this time, but I'd still give it my all. your babies love you no matter how long you nurse them. good luck! I wish all you nursing moms the best!

 

So here I am, and I just can´t believe we´re done, or that we made it as long as we did for that matter--as they say, it just flew by!

The babies were born at 37 weeks and 1 day by scheduled c-section. My first babies. I had read everything i could about breastfeeding, and was determined to go for at least 3 months, though my "real" goal was 6 months (i wanted my boobs back by christmas ) We live in mexico, and hospitals are run differently from the u.s., you really don't get to say "no bottles" here, as you only get to be with your babies for a few hours each day. DS had some feeding issues in the hospital, couldn't tolerate the formula, got low blood sugar because of it, was very congested and could not feed, etc, so i really saw very little of him and only got to try breastfeeding him once, but to no avail, he was too sleepy (that was when we found the low blood sugar). DD sort of tried to latch on, but couldn't, it seemed my nipples were too large for her teeny mouth--they were actually very very flat.

went home, kept trying, no luck. tried nipple shields which worked at first for DD, DS refused and refused. there are no LC's here. we were lucky enough to have nurses helping out with caring for the babies here at home, and they "tried" to help, but really didn't at all. all agreed my nipples were too flat, and even after pumping they would get drawn out a bit, but once the babies got to them, they were flat again. and their little mouths made them slippery and they would slip through my fingers when i tried to pinch them to fit in their little tiny mouths--it was all so frustrating!! then DD started refusing even the nipple shield. i was distraught, but kept offering the breast, to no avail. i think this is when i started posting on the Breastfeeding board.

then when the babies were about 2 and a half weeks old, one nurse suggested i put a bottle nipple over my breast since they were being bottle fed formula and increasing amounts of EBM as i built my supply, instead of a breast shield (which they didn't want anyway), which i did, it sort of worked, the kids took it, milk flowed, but it was painful, and sometimes the milk would stay in the bottle nipple and dribble down my breast (wasting precious drops!!). afterwards, my nipples looked all deformed. i didn't care. it was as close to breastfeeding as i could get. then, after about a week, they started refusing that too. i would always offer my breast before giving them the bottle after both they and i were frustrated. then, on the day they turned 4 weeks, DS latched on and nursed. i could not believe it. i was elated. but then i couldn't remember what i had done so i could repeat it. i was sure it was a fluke, and he didn't latch on the next feeding, but after that--he was home free. DD wouldn't latch on for another 2 weeks. but then she got the hang of it, too.

this whole time, i was pumping between feedings, and they were getting "chaser" bottles of EBM and/or formula after nursing (i would use formula when i ran out of BM). truth be told, i never dropped them, though they did get to a point of being exclusively on breastmilk. so they got both breast AND bottle at every feeding. i usually fed them separately, as tandem feedings got complicated once i had to move one off the breast and bottle feed, it was all too complicated. it was easier to have one wait a bit while i nursed the other, then move the nursing twin to the boppy and give the bottle while the other breastfed, then bottle feed that one on my lap.

i rarely pumped more than 4 to 5 oz between feedings, usually it was between 3 and 4 oz. at 4 months, we changed the last feeding of the night to formula (they were STTN by now), and this allowed for 3 things: 1 freedom from the pump during the day (between feedings), 2 to start building up a freezer stash and 3 freedom to go out at night with DH. this worked very well for us. i was still getting up to pump at night, and continued to do so until i began to wean. In the end, i would only pump in the morning, before bed, and between 3 and 4 am.

In hindsight, it was pretty complicated with bottle, breast and pump all day every day. I wouln't have envisioned it this way, but it ended up flowing and we went with it. i tried to drop pumping sessions and "trust my supply" but couldn't do it. DH was always very very supportive, though he HATED the sound of the pump, especially at 3 am!!

As we approached the 6 month mark, DH actually suggested we go past the date in order to get the kids through Christmas vacation on breastmilk, since we would be travelling to colder weather and staying with lots of family (and little kids) for the immunity boost that we could give them. Then something funny happened.

On Dec. 13, 2 days after the twins turned 6 months (I "should" have weaned by then according to plan), i got a phone call from the hospital volunteers, which are headed up by DH's aunt. There was a preemie in the NICU in urgent need of breastmilk as he was not tolerating formula and mom's milk had yet to come in (emergency c-section). They needed donor milk and could i help? he needed 3 oz a day. I said yes. I ended up supplying him with breastmilk until we went out of town for Christmas (even then, i left them 20 oz of frozen BM), by which time mom's milk had come in. They were so, SO grateful, and i was very happy i could help. Had i stuck to my original plan, i would not have been able to help little Diego and his family. I am so proud that i can say I actually breastfed 3 children! Who'd have thought?

So we ended the year on mom's milk, and started the year off weaning, just before they turned 7 months. I dropped feeding sessions first, then pumping, then went to the freezer stash, which ran out on the very day they turned 8 months. I have to say, it was harder on me than them, they hardly seemed to miss it. But, officially, Ally and the Bear had 8 months of momma's milk. It was a sweet, joyful, frustrating, wonderful, difficult, amazing, special time upon which i will always look back fondly. As so many here say, if I can do it, anyone can!

Prior to being a mom, i taught 2-year-olds in preschool. Whenever a student would throw a tantrum or get stubborn, i would always tell them "you want stubborn? i am the QUEEN of stubborn!" i think my determination, which pretty much extends to everything i do, is what made it possible for me to know this great joy. Life is filled with so many fabulous things that don't come easily at all--we have to work or overcome to be able to experience them--and i think it's safe to say that the fact that i had to work for it, made it all the more special.

I can't wait to breastfeed my next babies--who knows, maybe we'll get twins again!! LOL

 

Adding my story-

Matilda Raven and Oscar Robert were born at 34w1d. Matilda was healthy, small, but otherwise in excellent shape. She was a lazy eater but nothing out of the ordinary, and I was able to nurse her by the next morning (they were born between 7 pm and almost 10 pm) and within a few weeks she was exclusively breastfed. Oscar, however, was very sick from the start. He kept desatting during contractions and needed an emergency c-section. Afterwards he wasn't much better, developing serious pneumonia overnight. He went from CPAP to ventilator to emergency ventilator within a day or so and stayed on the vent for nearly 2 weeks. The first time I was even able to attempt to nurse him was the day before we brought him home, almost a month old. He latched for a split second. He came home, on oxygen and apnea monitors and was extremely tired and had very low muscle tone. He had frequent apnea attacks, especially while eating, so I was too terrified to push the nursing with him. I kept waiting til he was stronger. I'd occasionally let him nuzzle, to keep the hope alive. I pumped around the clock, while traveling back and forth between their hospitals (he was 3 hours away in Nashville at Vanderbilt) and took advantage of the hospitals excellent pumps. I had a great LC at my delivery hospital, and all of the nurses were very encouraging with the breastfeeding, as well as the doctors. His doctor at Vanderbilt told me "It's as good as medicine." I also forgot to pack my collection kits and our case manager at Vanderbilt gave us 2 more sets. I feel very fortunate that I had so much support. Anyway, pumping wasn't enough to keep my supply growing and eventually I was barely able to keep up with Oscar's bottles so I made a decision to either get him to breast or start introducing formula. Another good support for me was our WIC nutritionist, he was awesome (Yes, I said 'he') and more lactivist than anyone I've ever met, but in an encouraging way, not a judgemental way. He talked to me over the phone, and between him, my mother-in-law, who'd breastfed her 3 children, and my LC, as well as the help from Medela's breast shields, I finally got Oscar at breast. He was 3 months old exactly. He nursed for half ihs feedings for a few days then got picky and refused bottles and was all booby from then on. They both porked up quickly, but around 7 months their weight gain fell to a crawl and I often struggle with feeling inadequate, but their pediatrician, the WIC nutritionist, my family, especially my husband, all continue to be staunch supporters. They are healthy, just petite, like me. We've been nursing for 14 months now. They each nurse about 4-6 times a day, still at night as well. I had an EZ to Nurse Twins pillow but b/c of my short torso, it was too big, so I prefer a simple down pillow. Now that they are more mobile and have such excellent head control, we just nurse however. I occasionally feel like a ol' hound dog with puppies swarming her every time she sits down, but I love it and will be so sad when they wean. I hope they self-wean.

 

hi there!

i will add my story. mine were nicu babes, born at 27w5d, and that in itself was a rollercoaster which i would not wish on anyone. however, i was lucky that i learned how to pump pretty eaisly and they were taking 1 cc of my milk w/in a few days. i was also lucky that i was able to produce a decent amount of milk, considering how much stress i was under and how sad i was.... anyways, my precious little guys came home after 7 and 10 weeks, respectively. we had practiced bf'g in the hosptital but both boys had little issues which prevented them from latching well or for long. i continued to pump when they came home, met w/wonderful lc's, and continued to practice w/them for a long time. neither latched on, and i resigned myself to ebm'g them indefinitely. this took a big committment from both dh and i but we were both willing..... and, amazingly enough, after five loooong months, one of my little men latched on! that was sooo cool..... now i am nursing him and pumping for his brother. it's over 7 months now but i still try every now and then w/my other little guy. you just never know!

~~jl

ps: i think our story is pretty amazing and i am so proud of both of my boys. and so thankful to the "milk goddesses and gods" for keeping my supply up. however, when i posted it, i think only one or two people responded. which is fine, people are not obligated to post to anyone. but i did hope that more people would read it and know that latching on so late is possible. so, i figured i'd share it here. good luck to everyone!

 

I want to update mine to say that they are 2 next month and showing NO sign of weaning at all.

 

I'd like to add my breastfeeding success story.

I was determined to breastfeed. I think that with twins you have to be extremely dedicated to making it work or it just is not going to happen.

My babies are monozygotic and had TTTS. We were very fearful that we were going to lose one or both babies. I had an amnio reduction at 24 weeks. We were very fortunate that additional intervention was not necessary after that. At 36 weeks I was induced to avoid risk of sudden loss. Thankfully, my boys were born healthy and big (my donor was 5 lb 4 oz and recipient was 6 lb 8 oz) and came home with me after our standard two night stay at the hospital.

I took my EZ 2 Nurse pillow to the hospital with me and began nursing right away. The babies latched well but they were definitely premature and our pediatrician was very concerned about their weight gain. Additionally, they had jaundice and our pedi believes that breastmilk interferes with the elimination of billiruben from the body. He insisted that I primarily feed the babies formula for the first week or so. It was exhausting to feed the babies every two hours with bottles (which I am not a natural with - I bf'd my older son and am awkward with a bottle). I was feeding bottles, washing bottles, pumping to keep up my supply, storing breast milk, washing pumping equipment, and then starting all over. It was incredibly difficult. I feel like the babies did not take to the bottle nearly as well as the breast. So when their billiruben numbers began to fall, the pedi was still very concerned about weight gain and again preferred that I feed formula so that I could be certain of the ounces each baby was consuming. I told the pedi that I was pumping and had plenty of breastmilk to feed the babies. He was shocked that I could produce enough milk to feed two babies. I think that there is a misconception that women cannot produce enough milk to feed twins. We can!! Supply and demand! Regardless, he gave me his blessing to use pumped breast milk. Only trouble is that I really HATE pumping. Hate it. I went to a lactation consultant and she set me up with a scale.

I recommend a that anyone trying to breastfeed twins gets a scale for the first week or two (or three). I simply weighed the babies just before and just after feedings to determine the amount of milk each was drinking. Lo and behold they consumed more milk from my breasts than they typically would take from the bottle!!

So I kept a detailed chart with the amount of milk each baby drank and the number of wet and poopie diapers for the first three weeks or so. The pedi was truly impressed when I brought the babies in to be weighed after they had been allowed to breastfeed. They had grown SO well.

Today, they still are exclusively breastfed.

They just turned 6 months and I am starting them on solids. Their weight is great and they are very healthy and hitting all the right developmental milestones.

It is a lot of work to breastfeed two babies. But it is also a lot of work to bottle feed two babies! The hardest aspects of breastfeeding twins are 1) getting through the first few weeks and 2) that the babies are so reliant on you and you alone. Unless you are great about pumping, it is really difficult to ever get any time away from the babies.

Pumping never keeps your supply up the way that your babies' suckling does. Which is also why I think that feeding pumped milk is really detrimental to establishing exclusive breastfeeding. Often pedis and mothers worry that the mother is not producing enough milk. Not only does the anxiety in the mom negatively affect her production but then the mother often decides to feed pumped milk to verify intake. So supply falls and mothers decide that indeed, they cannot produce enough. The scale is a much better way to go. And relax and enjoy the time with your babes!

I feed the babies together on my EZ 2 Nurse pillow whenever I am home. I do get out and about a lot and feed them separately when not at home. I always keep them both on the same eating and sleeping schedule. If one is hungry then I feed the other. When they were tiny and not yet sleeping through the night, if one woke then I woke the other and fed them together. Today, they sleep well through the night (11 to 12 hours).

Anyway, I plan to breastfeed until they are at least 13 months (12 months gestational age or age adjusted).

I hope this encourages other moms out there who would like to breastfeed their twins. It can be done. You just have to be VERY determined to make it work.

 

I'd love to add my story to help encourage other parents in breastfeeding multiples.

Some quick facts:
- I have experience breastfeeding my 3 older children for at least 14 months each.
- My id twin boys had TTTS Stage I, were born at 34w1d @ 5 lbs. and 6 lbs. 12 oz.
- My id twin boys were in the NICU for 1 and 2 weeks. It took a good month and a half before my smallest twin could nurse exclusively. . . so I had to keep pumping and bottlefeed him until he was strong enough and ready.
- With my first singleton, we had a horrible case of thrush. . . very painful for me for a few months, but the baby never seemed bothered by it.
- I have been breastfeeding my twins for almost 13 months now, and I have no plans to wean anytime soon unless they act like it's time!

I have been fortunate to nurse each of my children for a year plus. Before having twins in June 2008, I had experience nursing, so I do believe it made breastfeeding the twins much easier for me to do. I was NOT nervous about b-feeding in public, being prepared, knowing HOW to breastfeed, being in pain (my breasts were sore with every new breastfeeding baby, sorry to say but it's true), and all the other first time stuff. I was most nervous about how was I going to feed two at once? Would I get them on a schedule? Etc.

I found out I was expecting twins in Dec. 2007, and by the beginning of March 2008, TTTS had been diagnosed. I spent 13 weeks on bedrest (7 in the hospital) with a cerclage trying to save my babies' lives. We were blessed to get to 34w1d and have babies the size with did with pretty good health for preemies with TTTS. Very blessed. Both babies went to the NICU for some time. They were never tube-fed, and both took bottles of formula for a couple of days due to the fact that I lost a lot of blood during the vaginal birth and was placed in ICU and getting a transfusion. . . I was doing worse than the twins. (I couldn't walk to the bathroom or stand up for 20 seconds next to the bed.) But within 24 hours after giving birth, I requested that a lactation consultant come visit me and bring a pump. Even though I could not get down to the NICU to visit my babies due to my own health (the NICU nurses sent me back to my room when all the blood had drained from my lips and they feared I'd pass out holding one of the babies), I was DETERMINED to start getting my milk going for these babies.

My advice to any mother wanting to nurse her babies even if she is bedridden for any reason following the birth is to get a pump in your room and start using it!

I was being given narcotics for my pain and who knows what, but after a day and a half of getting nauseous and having scary dreams from taking the narcotics, I quit and decided to deal with the pain on regular Tylenol, etc. I also talked to a LC and asked her about the meds I was taking affecting my milk. (Ask about that!) Some things are okay, and some are not. I would advise moms to ask an LC about their meds!

So I began pumping once every hour for about 10 to 15 minutes on both sides. I would get only drops of colostrum, but the LC encouraged me to keep going at it and take the babies whatever I could. The NICU provided me with sterilized bottles/containers, and they also made sure that I labelled each container (even if it was only a drop or two!) with the names of the babies, my name, the doctors, the time the milk was pumped and the date. After a few pumps, they would combine the small amounts together and feed it to the babies in the little bottles stored in the NICU freezer/fridge. . . The babies weren't taking more than 40 to 60 mL at a time. The goal was to increase this amount each feed. And even though I was not able to straight-on nurse them, this pumping provision, small as it might seem, was WONDERFUL for them. At first, I was only supplying enough milk for one of them to get a bottle of breastmilk a few times a day. . . alternating with formula. But after three days, I was starting to give them enough bottles of b-milk so they didn't have to take formula anymore.

Also on day 3, I got the opportunity to try straight-on nursing the larger baby in the NICU. He latched on but tired quickly. In the NICU, they would only allow me to try this straight-on nursing for 10 minutes. They didn't want the baby to lose more calories in the process of working hard to nurse. After 10 minutes of trying (sometimes successfully, sometimes not), my husband and I would feed the babies the bottles of pumped milk that I was supplying. The excellent NICU LC called this the "Lick and Learn" stage. She was very encouraging and said this was normal for the preemies to just "lick and learn" for a little while but to keep at it, and **snap** one day they would get it. So if you find yourself in this spot, DO NOT GIVE UP! Just keep up the little sessions and keep on pumping/bottlefeeding the breastmilk.

I went home on Day 4, leaving my little guys in the NICU. That was hard. But I knew I could keep on working on that breastmilk, so that kept me busy in between my visits to the NICU. Before I left the hospital, I had my husband take my personal breastpump (the Medela Pump In Style) to the LC office at the hospital to have it tested for efficiency, strength. It was still working well enough for a woman having to pump for two babies, so I did NOT rent a hospital-grade pump. I was given instructions from the NICU LC on how I should pump, how long, and when. The first night I was home, I decided to only get up for ONE pumping session during the middle of the night. . . I would be planning two sessions each night (a session every 3 hours). But I was still barely able to walk, and I needed rest. I paid close attention to eating very healthy and getting lots of water. When I say I ate healthy, I ATE PLENTY of food. . . It was not time to diet. I ate nutritious calories instead of empty ones, but trust me, I ate a lot. I had a singular goal, and that was to get my babies home healthy on breastmilk.

I would set my alarm clock for 3:00 am and 6:00 am to pump. I would get my pump parts cleaned and ready, little vials of breastmilk labelled, and then I'd pump for 20 minutes while I watched something on TV. It was surreal to wake in the middle of the night and do this with no baby home yet. During the day, my husband and I would go to the NICU and spend as much time as possible with the babies. . . I'd leave the milk I pumped while I was apart from the babies, and we would practice some lick and learn and keep trying. Silas, my bigger baby, was starting to pick up on the latching and sucking, doing great. Caleb, the smaller one, was trying but just really wanted to snuggle more when I tried to nurse him. . . AND THEN, just as the boys were about to be released together, one evening I was trying to nurse Caleb and he had a bradycardia episode.

I wanted to die. It was one of those things that undermines a mother's confidence in being able to take care of her own baby. Was I working him to hard to get him to try to nurse? Did his heart skip a beat because of me or something I did? I was unnerved by the episode, went home and cried, and had to leave Caleb another entire week to pass the 7-Day Bradycardia test to make sure he didn't have another. The next day with a nurse bottlefeeding him, he did the same thing again. But Silas was able to come home a week after he was born.

This actually made the adjustment a LITTLE easier. It was still hard balancing time with each baby now that one was home. I was able to get my stronger nurser home and get him to encourage my milk supply. The NICU LC told me that by getting my stronger nurser latched on first, he would help with the letdown so that it would be easier for the weaker baby to get the milk. This worked! And my milk supply steadily increased. I still was on a "nursing routine" that the NICU LC had given me. Her advice was golden. I can't remember the specifics right here, right now, but somewhere in my house, I have wonderful notes. If anyone needs them or is interested, please PM me. It was advice I'd never been given, but it helped so much.

I will say that previous b-feeding experience helped me immensely. As the NICU LC told me, "the roads had already been paved" (talking about milk ducts, etc. in my breasts). So if you are a firsttimer, don't give up easily. If you are doing this AGAIN, then have some confidence and keep going at it.

Silas was able to feed straight-on exclusively from my breasts by the time he was four weeks old. The pumping got old, but I refused to give up. It was a crazy long routine, time-consuming. Prepare the pump and all the parts. Label the vials/containers. Let baby practice for 10 to 15 minutes. Pump for 10 to 15 more minutes. Prepare pump and parts for next session. . . every 2 to 3 hours. Crazy. It would take 1 hour and a half easily with just one baby at home to get this preemie breastfeeding down pat. I'd watch TV. Sometimes, I would make my husband get up with me. . . I'd feed the baby at breast for those 10 to 15 minutes, then I'd take a previously pumped/warmed bottle and tell husband to feed Silas while I pumped. That made things a little quicker.

During the day at the hospital, I would pump on schedule in the NICU lactation rooms. It consumed me, and I was determined to have both my babies exclusively from the breast because it was so time-consuming to pump. I never liked pumping with singletons and always preferred straight-on feeding even if it meant having to take my babies with me wherever I went so they didn't miss a feeding. At church, I annoyed the nursery workers because I never provided bottles. . . I always went to nurse on demand whenever needed. (Thank goodness for the pagers at church!)

Caleb started getting stronger and finally came home 2 weeks after being born. I was still scared with him, lacking confidence really. I'd never had such a small baby before, and I worried I wasn't going to give him enough to eat or that he was always too tired to eat much even from the bottle. Nighttime pumpings and feedings were insane. Now I MADE my husband get up with me during the night for both sessions with the babies while we watched TV and went through the routine. I would now go straight to attempting breastfeeding each baby while my husband prepared previously pumped/warmed bottles. Nurse 10 to 15 minutes each baby, bottle feed babies while I pumped 10 to 15 minutes. It seemed that I was doing good to avoid going more than 1 1/2 hours each session. This would allow for 1 to 2 hours of sleep between sessions. It was crazy, and my husband didn't really like this!

After they were 6 weeks old, I let my husband sleep through one of the sessions while I did it all myself. They were getting better and better, but Caleb still wasn't able to straight-on nurse exclusively. It was a long haul. I made appointments with the NICU LC a few times to get weights and advice. She was indispensable and encouraged me so much. If your hospital has a special NICU LC, I highly recommend using that LC. I've had LCs that weren't specially trained, and honestly, they aren't as knowledgeable and are sometimes even misinformed about NICU babies'/preemies' needs.

I just kept on pumping and trying. Both babies were gaining, and finally by 2 1/2 months old, both my guys were exclusively nursing! I slowly (at the LC's advice because she said women who went cold turkey on the pumping often had severely decreased milk supplies even though they were still nursing) quit the pumping. All extra milk went into storage in the freezer, and we were free of the pumping schedule! I love breastfeeding on demand instead of sticking with a schedule, and this is hard to do with twins. Everything can get willy-nilly. Honestly, I can't remember how I eventually got them on the same feeding schedule, but I do remember it being difficult because I was very concerned that the smaller twin would not get enough nutrition. I was not so worried about the bigger twin.

All the pumping and hard work had paid off. To this day, it was worth it. I've tried pumping once or twice since then in order to leave them with someone else, but they've never been interested in the bottle. The drawback is that I have not been away from the twins for more than 4 hours. And my husband has never, since those early midnight feedings, had the opportunity to bond with the babies over feeding them. It's exhausting that way, but I know it is a short time in their lives. Already a year since their birth has passed. Both are doing well and still nursing. As far as other foods go, it's a good thing they like breastmilk and can take it because Caleb has had a sensitive gag reflex. . . Just recently is he finally taking solids without gagging and upchucking. I will say that he is now being given iron in a suspension and some iron-fortified formula in his iron-fortified baby cereal because he is borderline anemic due to being the Donor in the TTTS situation.

The twins had synagis shots throughout RSV season, and I think they had maybe ONE small cold since the day they were born. I always believe breastmilk helps with this prevention of illness.

Currently, I'm still feeding the babies at least 5 to 6 times daily via breast. It's definitely snuggle time. Some people say that you shouldn't let a baby go to sleep at the breast, but I think it's only natural. . . just watch them relax, their little eyes roll back and close, and see how utterly peaceful and secure they seem to feel in Mama's arms sucking away and getting some milk! I nurse my babies right before naps and at bedtime for sure. Eventually, I will help wean them straight to books before naps and bedtime. That's what I've done with all my "babies", and it's been wonderful.

I will talk about some "negatives" I've experienced with b-feeding twins to make this "real".
- It was hard to pump on schedule during those early weeks. It takes discipline and determination.
- It's been exhausting to nurse like I do. I haven't had a full night's sleep since over a year ago. (My guys started sleeping through the night at 3 months but stopped at 7 months. My sleep was so messed up during that time that I was having to take sleep aids to stay asleep or go back to sleep.)
- I have experienced four painful episodes of clogged milk ducts. I think my sorry, worn-out bras created the issues.
- Leaking with twins was definitely more pronounced.
- I haven't had time to myself for more than four hours at a time.
- My other children don't get as much attention from me. This has been very hard. Sometimes I think I should've provided more bottles for someone else to feed the babies while I focused on my other kids.
- I hated the EZ2Nurse pillow and couldn't not tandem feed my babies well with it. It did not fit my body. There was always a big open gap between the pillow and me even if I put a pillow behind me. The babies would slide down in it, and when they were so little, it was just difficult. (It has gotten easier to tandem nurse now that they are stronger and older!)
- I did not like tandem nursing. . . my body was not made for it. So I would have to nurse each baby one at a time. That meant listening to one baby cry, cry, cry while the other fed for 10 to 15 minutes IF there wasn't another adult around to help hold the crying baby. That was HARD. I'm still not used to that situation after a year.

But I wouldn't much except wishing I had more sleep and spent more time with my older kids. Working hard to get the preemies exclusively nursing made my life easier. . . we just up and go without bottle prep or pumping. I imagine we've save tons of money too. And my little guys are healthy!

Please PM me if you have any questions or need encouragement!

 

My boys were born at 36wks 6 days and were 7lb 15oz and 7lb 6oz. I nursed immediatly and the boys did well. I supplemented one in the hospital for high/normal bilirubin. I was able to EBF for 6 months. Tandum nusing worked well for me. I found it difficult and stressful to single nurse b/c I also have a 2 yr old. I bought an E-Z to nurse twin nursing pillow and that was a life savor. It also motiviated me to think about how much money I was saving not buying formula!! If you think positive likely you will be successful. Your body CAN produce enough milk for two babies!!

 

My twins were born at 32 weeks, 4 days via an emergency c-section because our tiny IUGR baby (Baby A, Alexis) was starting to struggle. Benjamin was in the NICU for 18 days, while Alex stayed for 25 days. Starting just hours after my c-section I began pumping every three hours around the clock, adding in "nipple feeds" as the babies were able to tolerate them. Benjamin was strong and took to nursing fairly well. Alexis, however, had a very weak suck and was very sleepy. She got used to the tube feedings and seemed lazy about feeding, even with the bottle (which we had to allow overnight since I had three other kids at home who needed me too). Once the twins were at home, every three hours I would nurse them both, offer them a "top off" bottle of pumped milk, and then pump. I did this around the clock, even in the middle of the night. Ben only needed the "top off" bottle for a week or two; however, Alex needed hers for about the first five months. But finally she was able to get everything she needed and wanted directly from the breast. I am proud to say they are both six months old and exclusively breastfed. I was worried about Alexis especially prefering the bottle, but not only does she prefer the breast, but she won't even take a bottle now!

 

My "babies" will be 2 in a few days and it prompted me to post my bf'ing success story! My boy/girl twins were born at 35wks2days after me being on hospital bedrest for 10 days. Prior to that, I was having a wonderful pregnancy and they thought I'd go to full-term. I have two older children who I bf'd for 14 and 15 months respectively. If I could do one thing differently in my twin pregancy it would be to do more research...I fully planned on bf'ing and didn't give it much thought as I'd successfully bf'd twice before.

They were good sizes, 6lb7oz and 4lb15oz, but went to the NICU immediately as they were less than 36 weeks. I started pumping the morning after their delivery and pumped every 2-3 hours around the clock while in the hospital, in addition to trything to bf'd a few times/day. Both ended up being feeders/growers and were in the special care nursery for 3 weeks (DS) and 9 days (DD). I took advantage of meeting with the LC's daily the entire time I/they were in the hospital. I was told they might "get the hang of it" around the time of their due date. My DD did seem to, and was almost exclusively nursing at 4 weeks. My DS has Down syndrome, so I had some extra challenges with him. I felt very strongly that he should bfeed as I'd read/heard that it was important for speech development in children with low tone. He seemed to finally get the hang of it around 2 months (1mo. adjusted). I was devastated at their two month well visit to learn that they were not gaining weight! This started a months-long process of supplementing, pumping, bf'ing, meeting with an LC, and trying to determine what was going on. I tried nursing marathons 3 times.

My DS became a stronger nurser but still was pretty fatigued as the day went on. I eventually settled into a routine with him where he'd nurse on demand most of the day but get three bottles at set times. Eventually I was able to get that down to 2 then 1 bottle daily, which we finally dropped when he was 7 months old. He continued to nurse until this past summer when he was 19 months old... he had been bf'ing 2-3 x's/day but suddenly started biting me. I tried several techniques to get him to stop. He would do it immediately upon latching and then immediately sit up...I gave it three weeks of trying and then decided he was telling me he was ready to wean. He's always been on a great growth curve and his Speech Therapist was highly impressed that he was breastfeeding and was very encouraging about the benefits it would bring him (besides the ones we all already know!).

My DD continued to have poor weight gain, depsite being the stronger nurser. Food allergies were a concern, so I had her tested at 4 months and discovered some allergies. I eliminated all of the foods she is allergic to. Her eczema improved almost immediately, as did her chronic diarrhea, and she started gaining more steadily. I also had her on a schedule of 3 set bottles per day which quickly went to 2 then 1, which we held on to until she was 7 months old also. At her one year visit, the nutritionist told me that she'd have to go on a special formula until she was 2 unless I wanted to continue to breastfeed. I had spent 7 months trying to get her off of the formula supplements, so I decided to continue to breastfeed. She was nursing 4-6 x's/day at that time, then gradually down to 3 x's/day. Towards the end of the summer, after her brother had weaned, we were getting down to 2 x's/day, mostly due to schedule... we just dropped the 2nd feeding in the past few weeks and now she only nurses first thing in the morning. We just found out that she has outgrown her soy allergy, so she has started on soy milk, which is great. Honestly, I am ready to wean, and have been trying to distract her in the morning...she's not going for it though and continues to want to nurse! I don't mind it but am ready to go back to a "regular" diet for me (I'm still doing an elimination diet based on her allergies) and our morning routine is hectic so it's become that we have to "fit in" her nursing. I feel alternately guitly for wanting to stop and extremely pleased that I made it to two years with her! Mostly that wins out!

A few lessons I learned these past two years...

1. Be prepared: If you're expecting twins, do some reading/research in advance, even if you're an expereienced breastfeeder.
2. Treat the babies as individuals: I felt guilty for various things over the past two years having to do with their nursing and I finally realized I was doing the best/right thing for each as individuals, including them having different weaning times.
3. If you have a stronger nurser, use that to your advantage...I alternated breasts every feeding because I felt like my stronger nurser kept up my supply better that way. If my not-as-strong nurser didn't eat well, I had my stronger one finish off that side just to be sure the breast was emptied.
4. Stay strong/determined/dedicated...whatever you want to call it. I had a lot of support but so many obstacles that even people around me who fully supported me and my efforts tried to tell me that it would be okay if I didn't breastfeed or the babies went to formula. I know people mean well but I knew what I wanted to do and that my ultimate goal was to exclusively breastfeed so I didn't really want to hear anything else! I loved reading these success stories when I was feeling down or overwhelmed!!

Breastfeeding the twins was not at all like I thought it would be, but it was one amazing experience and one of the things I've done in my life that I am most proud of! Despite the hard times I am so happy that I was able to stick it out and so grateful that I had the wonderful breastfeeding experience with each of these babies after getting through the struggles of the early days.

 

I want to add my story! I wish I had spent more time on this forum, but always felt like a failure since DD only nursed for the first 4-6 months. It has taken me until now to realize that it isn't even close to a failure. I want to post my story for any MOMs who face the same issues I did, because I bet it's more common than I realize. My babies were born prematurely at 31 weeks 5 days. I first put DD to the breast the day after she was born. I had no idea what I was doing and it was the first time I had even been allowed to hold her. Thus began our nursing journey! In the beginning I mainly pumped and fed them breastmilk through a tube. They were supplemented with formula right from the very first day. I didn't catch up to them supply wise for about 2 weeks after they were born. I was not a very good producer with a pump and really didn't start to come close to producing enough until I was nursing them regularly. I was fortunate enough to be with a insurance plan (Kaiser) that allowed a LC to come to my room every single day. At first I put both babies to the breast separately once a day. We worked with various holds and eventually used nipple shields to teach them to latch. I didn't allow them to have bottles until the very end in the NICU. I felt like I was going to commit myself if I didn't get us out of the NICU so I did give bottles at the very end just to get them home where we could relax and freely enjoy our time together. Ethan came home taking all of his daily intake by nursing although I did supplement with a bottle of EBM because I was supposed to put some extra calorie formula in it. Abby was not as enthusiastic of a nurser, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She would start out good, but then seem to be in pain. We kept thinking reflux and treated her for that. So for their first 4 months, I breastfed them exclusively except for the formula they got at first in the hospital. I did a lot of tandem nursing and was caught in this vicious cycle of supplements (for me for supply), pumping, nursing, etc. I kept waiting for it to get easier, but it wasn't in the cards. Right around 4 months, Abby had gotten completely out of control. I couldn't get her to latch at all. I could barely get her to take a bottle. The LC's had no more advice for me and I had no idea what to do. At the time we were making a 1000 mile move 3 states away and I was under an insane amount of stress. My supply was dropping, I was so sleep deprived and I was at my wits end. I coaxed her to get the bare minimum of liquid into her through bottles, an SNS feeder, and some extremely frusterating nursing sessions. She ate the most at night while she was sleeping, I would co-sleep with her and let her just nurse all night long. But during the move, she all but quit nursing. About a week had gone by where I hadn't been able to get her to latch at all while we were in transit. Once in our new home, I made an appt with a pediatrician. Right away, she realized that Abby was struggling with dairy. NO ONE had mentioned that to me yet. I had been to 5 different health professionals at this time. I quit dairy and we used alimentum formula because at this point my supply was half of what it was before we moved and I had no more freezer supply left. I noticed a tremendous difference within 24 hours. She was like a different baby. But it had drastically affected her. I cringe to think about how much pain she was in all those months and it makes me cry even today that I didn't know what to do for her. She was afraid of the breast and I was never able to get her to exclusively breastfeed again. For the next few months, I would get her to latch once or twice a day and contented myself with the time I had with her. I pumped for her and mostly fed her bottles until a year. At that point she was able to have dairy. She just needed 6 months of no dairy to let her system grow and develop to be able to process those proteins. With Ethan it was so ironic that he ended up being my BFing baby because he was SO hard to teach how to latch. Abby was my nursing baby in the NICU and after and Ethan was just a battle every time. I would tense up when I'd go to try to latch him on because he would hurt me so badly. The main thing with him though is that even though he couldn't figure it out, he really wanted to. He would patiently try to latch on, usually it would take him 5-10 minutes just to get a good latch! At about 3 1/2 months, I decided we had to ditch the nipple shields because of thrush issues. I went to an amazing LC who showed me a hold that FINALLY worked to get him to latch. It was a cross-cradle hold where I basically held him underneath my breast and then lifted him up instead of towards me. It was beautiful. He was finally latching! He was so proud of himself. It took another month and a half at least before he was a proficient latcher, but he was a little nursing champ by this time. I had a really hard time balancing out what milk I was going to give to my DD through pumping vs my nursing son. We struggled through it and hopefully I did the right thing, but it is a tough situation to have one nursing child and one bottle fed child. Anyhow, just wanted to post this in case there are other moms that end up with the situation I did. Please feel free to PM me anytime if you have questions. Our nursing journey is now over with DS weaning at 23 months. With nursing an older toddler, I did continue to put DD to the breast, she just wouldn't try to latch on. I would squirt milk in her mouth and/or we would just snuggle. Her OT was a huge advocate for putting babies to the breast even if they don't nurse. She said there are a lot of benefits just from that. Hope this is encouraging to someone!

 

Hi! I had three full-term singletons prior to our twins. I nursed the three for 11 mos, 13 mos and then 15 mos. When our twins were born at 32 weeks because twin A had severe IUGR and had stopped growing, I was so nervous about the possibility of nursing them. In the NICU it was fine that I wanted to nurse, but I was somewhat pressured to allow them to have bottles too. Because I had my other kids at home (ages 5, 3 and 2 at the time) who needed me I agreed for them to get bottles while I wasn't there (as opposed to being fed through the ng tube). I knew that would get them out of there earlier. Twin B came home after 18 days and Twin A followed at 25 days. She had a very weak suck and couldn't get all she needed from the breast. They also both had to be woken up every three hours to be fed. So, every three hours my alarm would go off. I would nurse them both, then give Twin A a bottle of pumped milk. Then I would pump to keep my supply up. We did this for five months. I am so happy to report that they are now almost 15 months old (13 mos adjusted) and both still nurse four times a day.

 

My babies were born at 39+3 with 2.6 and 2.9 kilograms. I nursed both babies nurse after the ceasarean and then they were brought to me every 4 hours during the nights and were with me in hospital all day while my husband was with me feeding on demand. I know this is not ideal for establishing milk supply for 2 babies but I was pretty weak after 19 weeks of bedrest and a ceasarean so I could not cope with the babies alone for the first few days.
I was very committed to breastfeeding but I had decided not to put the pressure on myself to exclusively breastfeed twins, especially with no prior experience of breastfeeding. That turned out to be a good decision: DD was very weak at first and did not get the hang of latching and sucking, quickly losing weight. Even after my milk started coming in she would manange about 4 to 8 grams before falling asleep again, and we would be so happy if my husband manage to get her to take an additional 20 grams of formula from the bottle. DS worked hard at the breast and only needed a top-up bottle of formula every second or third meal. After we went home with the babies it took us nearly 3 months to get to the point where the babies were exclusively breastfeeding. The first weeks were a marathon of nursing, topping up with formula or ebm, pumping.
At this stage pumping did not work well for me even with a hospital grade electronic pump - it really hurt and would get a maximum of about 30 grams, which was not enough for the supplementary feedings. So we used formula. Despite this we managed to slowing drop one supplementary feeding after the other and at 3 months the babies were exclusively breastfeeding. Most people had not thought this would be possible because we had to supplement so much in the beginning. I am not sure DD would have maanged on her own, but while she was weaker DS kept working at my supply and triggering the let-down for her when I tandem-nursed which in turn encouraged her to feed better.
I went back to work part-time when the babies were 9 months old. So we started them on solids at 7 months and by the time I began working we had dropped 2 nursing sessions per day. This had the added benefit of my supply slowly dropping too so I did not have to pump too often in the office.
Now, at 13 months we are down to nursing first thing in the morning before we get up, for the naps when I am at home for nap-time, as part of our bedtime routine in the evening and once or twice during the night. Luckily, they sleep well without breastfeeding when I am not available.
Along the way we dealt with all the normal problems of breastfeeding - supply issues, pumping, engorgement and mastitis, soreness, jealous nursing fights between the babies, leaking, lack of sleep etc. But it was so worth it!!! I have loved every moment - I loved nursing them as tiny babies, I loved tandem feeding them and watching them drift off to sleep cuddling me or oneanother, I loved nursing them when they were trying to talk and nurse at the same time, I loved the intense eye-contact while they were breastfeeding - so many unique moments.

 

I successfully breastfed my b/g twins until they were one year old, when I weaned them. It was a lot of hard work in the first couple months, but the work was worth it as breastfeeding was so much easier the older they got. Mine were born at 38 weeks (I was induced) and I had a csection. I had a difficult delivery and they had formula in the first couple weeks but my supply eventually caught up and they were EBF from one month on.